The Path Called Love
by Yenearsira
Summary: Kaya wasn't someone who was unprepaired. She however wasn't prepaired to suddenly appear in a different world, fight wars, make new friends and enemies and fall hard for a certain Ranger all at the same time. Rated M for rude language and some heavy scenes.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: Unfortunately, I don't own Ranger's Apprentice. Otherwise I would have probably put a weird monk or something inside the story and I'm not half as good at writing as dear ol' John and well... I've learned to accept it. The things that I do own, however, are Kaya, Simon, Jessica, Grace, Gabe, Eric and Jake. They're mine. I keep them in a cage.

In my basement.

Beta'd on: 2-1-2014 (I noticed the many faults I've made along the story, and (I'm silly) I decided to re-check everything or whatever. Don't worry, nothing important will be changed, only the grammar and such.

Prologue:

A girl was sitting on the couch, reading a book called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Her brown hair was spilled around her face, making it unable to see it. The girl wore a large vest, with on the backside the words Green Day printed in neon colors on girl jumped up at the sound of the doorbell. Her pretty face with deep blue eyes became visible. She laid away Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and walked towards the hallway, where she opened the door.

The girl was faced by a rather tall man, with dark clothes on and a hood pulled up over his head.

"Hi Simon, how are you?" The girl said and hugged the boy tightly. She led Simon over to the living room, after gripping his jacket from him.

Simon laughed, making one dimple visible in his left cheek. He was a rather handsome young man, Simon. Although his light brown face had some roughness, like the stubbles on his cheek and the fact that his nose seemed to be broken a rather few times, he still had a special way of being handsome. Maybe it was the way his dark eyes lit up when he saw his friends. "I'm good, how're you, Kay?" Simon replied.

Kaya smiled back. "I'm fantastic. You're never this early Simon, did your cat die or something?" she said while walking over to the kitchen to get them both their favorite drink. However, the doorbell rang and she had to answer it again.

This time Kaya was faced by a petite blonde girl. She looked rather perfect, every strand of hair was perfectly placed around her face and every lash around the girls baby blue eyes seemed longer than the other. She wore perfect make-up and next to her 'cute' clothes, she wore the perfect accessories with the perfect bag. In one word (or rather a name); Jessica.

"Kaya! How long it's been!" Jessica said, squealing and hugging her friend.

Kaya grinned. "Yesterday is so long ago. But hi, Simon is already in the living room." she said and walked over to the kitchen again. She came back with three different drinks and placed them on the table. Simon and Jess were doing small talk, probably about kittens or something.

"Simon, what brings you here so early? Did your cat die?" Jessica asked, sitting down neatly on the red couch.

Simon frowned at the girl sitting next to him. "Thank you all for your concern about Sir Nicolas, but he's fine. But Jess, I haven't seen you since last week, tell me, how did your date with Kevin go?" Simon asked and Kaya knew he asked that question just to piss her off. Kaya hated the stories Jessica told about her dates. Luckily, she was saved by the doorbell.

This time there were two people. The girl of the couple had flaming purple hair, flaming yellow eyes and had rather dark make-up. The girl was truly beautiful, if she wasn't dressed like someone without a sense of fashion. But Kaya didn't mind, Grace was Grace, and she loved the girl to bits.

The boy was some kind of macho. He wore a football vest and had his arms draped possessively around his girlfriend. He wore a pair of those nerdy glasses and had strong facial features. The boy really didn't have any brains, so it was better he looked good.

Kaya grinned and trapped both of her friends in a hug. "Grace, Gabe! Come on in." she said and closed the door behind him.

Gabe greeted her back and went on to the living room. "So?" Grace asked after her boyfriend had disappeared.

"So what?"

Grace grinned up at her. "Your date of course, don't act like you don't know." she said and accompanied her to the kitchen.

Suddenly Kaya froze. "I forgot, sorry." she said. How did she forget the date she would have today? You challenged yourself to read the last book of Harry Potter in one go, dumbass.

Grace laughed. "Seriously? You forgot? Did you even look at his photo?" she exclaimed.

Kaya rolled her eyes. "You pair me up with some boy every other week. Last time the boy just talked about his choir and sorry to disappoint Grace, but I really don't want to date anyone right now. Especially not someone who walked right out of Glee."

"Well, I for once thought the choir was pretty refreshing." Grace said and laughed. The girl grabbed bags of chips and something to drink for her and Gabe and left the kitchen.

Kaya laughed and entered the living room, only to be pulled back by the doorbell again.

This time, there was a boy standing there. The boy, also known as Eric, squealed and hugged her. Eric was the typical gay boy, wearing tight, often pink clothes and, well, talking like a stereotype gay person. Kaya wasn't much of the stereotypes, but she had to admit that Eric was one.

"Oh my gosh Kaya you look amazingly cute in that vest! I'm so happy today, the new One Direction tour is going to start! Can you believe that?" Eric said while chewing his gum.

Kaya grinned. "Thanks, and no I can't believe that amazing news. I don't understand you like them." she said sarcastically.

Eric pulled back. "Oh my gosh, I won't talk to you never ever ever again." he said, walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a drink. He huffed at her and then ran into the living room, where he squealed and hugged everyone. That is, when you don't count Simon, the ever awkward boy.

Kaya sat down on the couch next to Simon, smiling at him and then looking at Eric who was telling a story about some guy he met at the bus stop this evening. Then Eric turned his attention to her.

"Hey Kaya how did your date go?" he asked out of the blue.

Suddenly, all eyes were on Kaya. "How does everyone except me knows I had a date today?" she asked.

Eric looked at her in shock. "You forgot a date with the hottest and most wanted boy in this city? How did you forget?" he exclaimed.

"You forgot a date with Jake Miller?" Jessica asked in shock.

"Who's Jake Miller?" Simon asked bluntly through it.

Kaya rolled her eyes. "I was busy reading and stuff, and please, you know I'm not into dates." she said loudly.

Eric looked to shocked to reply and it seemed like the perfect moment for Simon to break the tension. "So what movie are we going to watch?" he asked rather loudly, to make sure he was heard.

There were some murmurs and the doorbell rang again. Probably the pizza guy... Kaya stood up again and answered the door.

"Evening. Three pepperoni, two Hawaii and one with extra cheese?" The guy said. His face couldn't be seen as he was holding the pizza boxes.

"That's my order! How much?" Kaya asked. She grabbed the boxes out of the order guy's hands. She putted them on the ground and looked at the revealed face of the order guy. Jake Miller. Oh, the irony.

It was silent for a while when Jake looked at her. "Uh... $43,78." he said while looking down at the ground.

Kaya muffled around in her pockets and found a $50,- dollar bill. She handed it over. "Keep the change." she said while smiling.

"Thanks." Jake said offering her a brilliant grin that vanished too soon. "Have a nice evening." he said while walking away from the door.

"Wait, Jake." Kaya said softly.

Jake walked back and looked at her curiously.

"I'm really, really sorry I didn't turn up today. I just forgot and I was kind of forced into it." Kaya said, looking at her hands.

Jake sighed. "It's okay. It's just that... I was really excited to go out with you, you know... You're an awesome girl and I've... liked you for quite a long time... Just... I need to go... Bye." he said softly and this time really walked away.

Kaya closed the door. She really felt like a bitch right now. She sighed and picked up the pizza boxes from the floor, carried them to the living room and placed them on the table. Then she sat down on the couch again. They were having a discussion about which movie they should watch. She was going to win that discussion, that's for sure.

Simon softly poked her. "Why do you look like you just killed a puppy?" he asked her softly.

Kaya sighed and leaned back into the couch. "The pizza guy turned out to be Jake Miller, the guy I was supposed to date today. I never felt more like a bitch than today." she said in a desperate voice.

Simon chuckled. "Typically your luck." He said and draped a brotherly arm around her shoulders. "But everyone forgets something, someday."

Kaya smiled and leaned into his shoulder. "What is the film fight about this time? I bet I'm going to win this time." she asked, gesturing to the fighting four.

Simon laughed. "Eric wants to see a crappy romantic film, Jessica wants to see Pirates of The Caribbean and Gabe and Grace the Conjuring, only Eric refuses to watch horror."

Kaya smiled. "I know the perfect movie!" She yelled. All eyes were turned on her. "Eric will get his romance, Jessica her fair share of hot boys, and Gabe and Grace get their dark parts. Let's watch the Mortal Instruments!" she said with a large grin on her face. Honestly, she loved the books so the films should be pretty decent too.

There were some nods and Kaya buyed the film through her tv. She was lucky her 'parents' were gone on a vacation for a month. They wouldn't approve of the six sixteen year olds sitting in their living room, eating junk food and watching movies.

They were halfway through the movie when the tv went out, just as the lights and the lights on the street. Eric and Jessica squealed and Kaya looked out of the window. It was getting dark so she really couldn't see anything. She grabbed a candle from the cupboard and lit it up with a lucifer.

"What the hell? Why does this happen on a saturday of all days?" Gabe said and Kaya seriously wanted to smack him. Electricity didn't choose a day to fall out, it just did.

After lighting up a few candles, the room suddenly filled itself with an enormous amount of light.

"Holy saint Peter in Rome."

And it didn't come out of the lamps.

AN: This is basically a prologue to find out who the characters that will be important in this story are. And just a little spoiler for next week:

"Cut the name jokes." Kaya said, irritated.

"You're saying I should Halt them?"


	2. Chapter one

I posted a chapter before this. Then, I got this amazing plot change that would make everything way easier, so, I removed the old chapter and replaced it with this one. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice. I do own Kaya, Simon, Jessica, Gabe, Grace, Eric and Jake. And no worries, they're still trapped in my basement, safe and well fed. (Although the we let the opinions about that last little fact slip)

I've got a camera hanging there, in my basement.

A Canon.

Just kidding, I can't afford a camera.

For the record, I'm Dutch and very young (14, but not completely mentally unstable yet), so if you find a grammar mistake, tell me! And also, because I know one person is going to comment about Eric being the 'stereotype gay'. Normally, I hate stereotyping and the fact that everyone seems to think that if you're gay, you like shopping and squealing. So I don't think every gay person is someone like Eric.

OH MY GOSH I GOT REVIEWS!

Kerowyn6 - Thanks for the review dude(tte)! I'll buy you a cookie one day.

moniquebowman- Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like it so far! I agree with you on the things you said and it is in fact extremely hard to write Halt, Will and Horace. They are really complicated and I hope I can stay in character, because I love those three! And I found it really hard to find out the ages of the characters through the books so I just assumed that at the moment Will, Horace and Evanlyn are 16.

rangersapprenticedasti: Dude, your name is way too long. I had to copy paste it. But thanks for the review. If I had virtual power I would sent you a hug.

I talk way too much.

**Beta'd or something on 2-1-2014**

_After lighting up a few candles, the room suddenly filled itself with an enormous amount of light._

_And it didn't come out of the lamps._

Kaya felt her body moving somehow, like she was shaken by someone. The cold hit her like a brick and she felt herself shivering like a madman. With all her power, she tried to open her eyes, but they seemed glued together.

"Kaya, wake up!" she heard Simon say and suddenly her eyes cracked open, only to be closed at the amount of light that was shining in them.

Kaya grunted and sat up, noting that she was in the snow. Oh pure joy. "Simon? Where are we?" she asked and looked around. There were a few trees, and she saw her friends sitting near her, Eric's eyes seemed red, as if he just cried.

Simon looked at Kaya. "No one knows. Or how we got here for that matter." he said.

Kaya looked around. "I always knew that London has shitty weather, but I didn't expect it to be this bad." Kaya heard Gabe say.

Kaya rolled her eyes. "Gabe, I don't think we're in London anymore." She said while standing up. She checked her pockets, she still had her phone, earphones and a pack of gum. Kaya turned to check on her phone but Simon protested.

"No signal, not even if you climb in a tree. Better spare your batteries." Jessica said, rubbing her hands together.

Kaya raised her eyebrow. "You climbed in a tree?" she asked while turning off her phone.

"No, Grace did."

"Oh that crazy little purple-haired monkey." Kaya shook her head while grinning. Only Grace would do that for a mobile signal. "But seriously, we need to find out where we are and how we got here, and even more important, how to get away." she said.

Eric rolled his red eyes. "No shit Sherlock. But really, we have to get out of here, my shoes are really not made for this weather."

Simon gave him a deadly look. "No offense Eric, but at the moment, I couldn't really care less."

Eric made a sound of disapproval. "Excuse me? These are the new Hugo Boss'! They cost $300!" he said angrily.

Grace looked at the shoes. "Why would you pay that much for those ugly things?" she said.

Eric's diva side came up. "Oh my Gosh! You're not serious now are you? Look at those! They're gorgeous!" he said.

Now Gabe thought that the discussion was pretty nice too. "Well, Eric, I think they're pretty cool." he said, much to the disapproval of Grace.

"And you're supposed to be my boyfriend?" Grace asked, stepping away from her boyfriend.

"Finally someone who has some fashion sense!" Eric squealed and proceeded to hug Gabe.

Kaya looked around. "Let's not discuss Eric's horrible fashion sense, has there been any sign of life, from anything?" she asked while looking around. She only saw trees and the snow, well and a path.

Simon shook his head. "Only some birds." he said

.

Kaya looked at him. "Where did they go?" she asked, trying not to grin at the sight of Eric hugging an unwilling Gabe.

Simon seemed to think for quite a few moments, then he pointed at the path left of them. "They went that way." he said.

Kaya looked at him. "Problem solved, then! We'll go that way." she said pointing to the right path. Then she shuddered and pulled the hood of her dark Green Day vest up.

Simon looked at her. "What are you talking about?"

Kaya grinned. "Well, first of all, wherever we are, it's winter. Winter means that all the big scary things are asleep. The birds flew away from something, or I'd rather say someone. We'll just go there and see if there's anyone. I feel like Hermione or Gandalf right now." she said. "By the way, what do you guys have in your pockets?"

Simon looked at me critically. "Aren't birds supposed to go somewhere else too, in the winter? And I have change and my phone. Oh and my cigarettes and a lighter of course."

Jessica shrugged. "Not all birds, if I remember correctly. By the way, it's just a lucky guess, I suppose. But it's better than freezing to Death." She said. "Oh, and I have some lipgloss and stuff in my bag."

It turned out that they all had their phone (surprise), Gabe had some cash and Grace had some alcohol for her piercings. And of course Jessica and Eric had sunglasses and all different kinds of things in their purses.

Kaya rubbed her hands together. "Let's just go." she said, she still wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but the worse thing that could happen was freezing to Death.

The 'path' wasn't really nice to them. It appeared to even hate Eric, since it made him fall multiple times.

"If you would stop looking in your mirror every other second, you wouldn't be falling." Grace said sympathetically, patting Eric on the shoulder.

Eric just sent her a deadly look. "Or you guys could just tell me when there's a stone in front of me!" he said.

Simon grinned. "Sorry mate, can't be your eyes." he said, taking a pull of his cigarette.

Kaya grinned too. Then she focused on the beautiful nature again. Even with the enormous amount of snow, the forest looked like a magic place. It reminded him much of Christmas. She smiled softly and tried not to focus on the terrible cold, she was really going to be sick after this 'trip'. Kaya couldn't stop wondering about where she was, and how she got here. She had pinched herself quite a number of times the past hours, to check if this wasn't some sick dream, but the cold was way too real.

Kaya was getting more and more scared when the sun was slowly going down, if they wouldn't find someone to stay with or somewhere to stay at, they would surely freeze to dead, or murdered. Somehow her mind wondered what would be worse.

Kaya knew that Simon was worried, too. But Simon didn't show it, he was the oldest of the group after all, and if he would freak out the rest of them would too. Well, she wouldn't, she had learned in her training, that panicking wouldn't do anything good. Panicking would only make the situation worse.

She rolled her eyes when she heard Gabe ask Jessica if his pee would freeze here. Of course it would.

Right?

Whatever, she was hungry.

Suddenly Eric was walking next to her. "Kay?" he asked uncertainly.

Kaya looked at Eric. His hair was perfect as ever, his clothes fitting and even his shoes seemed unharmed. "Yes?" she asked.

Eric looked around a little bit, as if no one should hear what he had to say, and whispered. "You'll protect me with that weird techniques that you do, won't you?" he asked.

Kaya let out a laugh. "Sure, Eric, don't worry." She said, honestly, the confident boy could be really uncertain sometimes.

But Kaya would try to protect them if something went wrong. She was strong, after all. She had to be.

Kaya's breath hitched in her throat when she smelled the unmistakable smell of fire. The others didn't seem to notice. "Fire." she said softly.

Kaya heard some sniffles and some murmurs, and they began to walk faster. Soon they saw a little fire, with some figures sitting around it.

"We can't just walk up there!" Jessica whispered, when they were back in the woods.

Kaya nodded. "No, but what else should we do?" She asked. "If we just act polite, we can easily get some information." she said.

Gabe shrugged. "We should all go at the same time, if someone suddenly pops up it will be really suspicious."

Kaya looked at him. Maybe Gabe wasn't stupid after all. "I agree with Gabe, we should go as a group. And please, don't do anything stupid." she said.

Then they walked towards the open place. Kaya was at the front, and even when they were still in the woods, a figure with an arrow appeared in front of them.

Holy midget.

"One step closer and there will be an arrow through your heads." The figure spoke. His voice was soft and calm, but Kaya knew not to mess with whoever this was.

Kaya hold up her hands. "We don't mean any harm." she spoke calmly. She noted how dangerously close the arrow looked. And how dangerously sharp of course. She hear how her friends pulled their hands in the air too, just like in the movies.

The figure in his weird cloak spoke again. "Then what is your purpose here?" he asked. Kaya noted the slightly Irish accent that the man seemed to have.

Kaya tried to see the face behind that cloak. "We just want to find our way back to London." she spoke and she was glad that there wasn't a trace of fear in her voice.

The arrow still hadn't moved. "Tell me, where does 'London', as you call it, lay?" The man said with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Kaya wanted to roll her eyes. "In England, Britain, whatever you may call it." She answered and she saw her breath coming out in little clouds. She loved when that happened.

The stranger looked at her. "Do I look like someone who likes to fool around?" he asked rather harshly.

"I can't really see your face." Kaya said and it had left her mouth without she knew it. She wanted to slap herself. How stupid. "Listen, we just want to go home. We don't mean harm, we don't even have weapons."

"Then why did you sneak around the camp?" The stranger said and suddenly there was another figure next to him.

"Halt, is there something wrong?" The young voice said.

Kaya looked at the other stranger, he too had his hood pulled over his head. She really hated it when she couldn't see someone's face. Was the first stranger really named Halt? That must have been a rough youth.

"No." Halt answered, and he removed his arrow.

Kaya let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "If you could just point us towards the nearest city or village, then it'll all be fine." she said.

The young stranger answered. "It's two days riding from here."

Kaya let out a sigh. "Tell me, what's the name of that city?" She asked and she started to rub her hands together. Her hands were cold and she didn't want to hold up her hands anymore.

"Hallasholm." Halt said.

Hallasholm, that kind of sounded Russian or Swedish. "Never heard of it." She said and looked at her friends. "You guys?"

Simon shook his head. "No such place exists." He said calmly. Kaya believed him. The guy was pretty much awesome at geography so.

Halt didn't seem convinced. "It does. And you still haven't answered why you were sneaking around the camp."

Kaya shivered. "We weren't sneaking. Just discussing how we should approach you guys." She heard Simon say.

"Discussing how you should approach us?" The young one asked.

Kaya grinned. "We couldn't just march into your camp like we're Johnny Depp." She said. "Although I think ol' Halt would be more approving of that."

"Who's Johnny Depp?" The boy asked.

Eric sighed deeply. "Oh my Gosh, how have you not heard of him? He's like, so hot!" He said typically, you know, with the little hand.

Kaya sighed. "Eric, this isn't the time to talk about those kind of things. But, sir, you have a slight Irish accent or whatever. Then you must know about London." she said.

Halt sighed. "I don't have 'a slight Irish accent'. I have no idea where you're talking about." He said irritated.

Kaya heard Jessica whispering something. "Kay, Halt isn't an Irish name. It's Scottish or something, I think.

"Halt isn't even a name if you ask me." Gabe said, way too loud.

Kaya flinched when she heard Halt's voice saying: "It is a name, if you ask me."

Grace giggled. "Imagine the jokes you could make, poor you!"

"Halt, Halt your actions!" Eric laughed.

Kaya sighed. "Stop."

Eric giggled. "You surely mean 'Halt'."

Halt looked irritated, even with his face being hidden by his hood. Kaya gestured her friends to stop. Maybe the guy would shoot his pointy thing.

"Kaya, stop trying to Halt our jokes." Eric said.

"Cut the name jokes." Kaya said, irritated.

Eric grinned. "You're saying I should Halt them?" he said.

Kaya sighed and touched a certain muscle in Eric's neck with two fingers. Within a second he was laying face first on the icy ground.

"Oops." Came from Kaya's mouth.

Such a grave mistake.

This was the first chapter. Isn't Eric just cute with his amazing jokes and isn't Kaya the prat that ruins the party.

Thanks for the reviews.

Dudes.


	3. Chapter two

I think it's so cool I have reviews! I'm so glad you guys like it, and thanks for the tips. Sometimes it takes a while to write a chapter, since I'm very busy with school, but I PROMISE I won't let this story die. Oh and the chapters will be longer, but sometimes I have this terrible writersblock.

That's a word.

No.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ranger's Apprentice, otherwise there would be much more fluff. Like a real lot. Oh, I do own my little group of rude bastards ;).

Onto reviewing the reviews because this is like the best sentence ever.

**Shadow Ravon**: First of all, I absolutely love your name! But I agree with you, these stories are the most fun to read and the most fun to write. I therefore hate the fact that there aren't that many OC fics in the Ranger's Apprentice world! I think these books need more appreciation anyways.

**CrazyJ888**: Dit ziet er vast heel raar uit voor de andere mensen, maar goed. Dankjewel en zal ik niet doen haha. Als ik hulp nodig heb dan hoor je me uit de verte al schreeuwen.

_I bet my guinea pigs that you're wondering what's up there._

**Kerowyn6**: Thank you for the review! I guess I'll just answer your questions now. 1. Kaya's training will be explained, but only when the time is there. :D 2. I put that in the prologue, didn't I? O. But they're 16. 2. (You've put 2 in there 2 times, you silly.) Kaya won't be a Mary-Sue, in fact, I hate writing Mary-Sues, they're way too perfect and Kaya and I have nothing in common except our wonderful taste in music. 3. Hihi, just understand that the children from these days react really fast when someone says something!

**Moniquebowman**: Thanks! No, Ranger's Apprentice doesn't exist as a book in Kaya's world.

Chapter two

Kaya looked at the figure laying on the ground. It was his own fault, she decided. Everyone knew Kaya wasn't really a happy person when she was hungry, and he was going way too far with the lame jokes.

Grace pointed to the silent form of Eric. "You made him fall." she said.

Simon sighed. "No shit. Kay, why did you do that?" he asked, he wasn't used to Kaya being moody and using 'violence' towards her friends.

Kaya scratched herself behind her ear. "He's annoying and I'm hungry. Those two are not a good combination and you know that too." she said.

"Is that bow real?" Grace asked at Halt, who had pulled down his hood, just as his companion. Kaya now saw a man with hair that was probably once black, but now had grey dominating his wild beard and hair. He had dark eyes, that looked at them sternly.

Halt raised an eyebrow. "I'm not carrying it for fun." he said, irritated.

Grace raised one eyebrow too. "Oh... It was possible, wasn't it?" she asked airily.

Halt didn't react. His companion, however, seemed interested. Kaya thought he was pretty nice, although he looked like he hadn't slept or eaten well for days, you know, dark cirkles. He had hair that was sticking in all directions, kind brown eyes and a friendly smile. "How did you get here?" he asked kindly.

Kaya felt pain in her stomach, a day without food wasn't really good. "That's the problem; we don't know how we got here. Otherwise we would have left already." she said and tried not to shiver.

Will looked at the group strangers in front of him. They were truly a strange sight. The clothes they were wearing were ridiculously bright, as if they were saying: look at me! That wasn't really smart if you were travelling in a forest. Also, they seemed to be from Araluen, at least, their accent was the same.

"What's the time anyway?" The tallest boy asked.

The girl with the blonde hair, who reminded Will of Alyss, looked at her wrist. "Six." she said.

Kay, or Kaya, Will didn't really catch her name, groaned. "Twenty hours without food!"

"How do you know that?" Will asked curiously. His question was of course directed to the thing on the girl's wrist, how could she read time from that?

Kaya looked at him. "Well, I'm not a real professional at math, but we disappeared at ten last night, and it's six now, so... Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's twenty... Right? I always got F's anyways."

Will shook his head and had to suppress a smile. "How do you know the time just by looking at your wrist?" he asked at the blonde girl, he wanted to come closer but he still hadn't found out if the strange people were dangerous.

The girl showed her wrist, letting a bright pink bracelet with a circle in the middle. "I learned reading clocks a long time ago! Kaya still can't do it, by the way. Everyone knows." she said.

Kaya looked at the other girl with deadly eyes. "Don't irritate me, or you'll be next." she said with a sweet smile, but her eyes were made from fire.

The girl with the 'watch' just grinned. "We're all hungry, don't act like that. We're going through the same as you."

Kaya shook her head, and Will was surprised how fast these people could react, he couldn't even put himself into the conversation. "You guys have more reserves."

The girl with the steel through her face and the bright hair scowled. "Are you saying I'm fat?"

"Yes."

"I am not fat."

Now it was Kaya's time to grin. Then she focused on the strangers again. "I believe we didn't tell our names. How rude. I'm Kaya. My tall friend here is Simon." she pointed to the tallest of them, "That's Gabe, Grace and Jessica." she said while pointing towards the people. Then she looked down for a while. "Oh, and this is Eric, but I don't think he'll say hello." she smiled.

Halt didn't react, just kept staring at the strangers. Will smiled back. "I'm Will and this is... Halt." he said cheerfully. "You can eat some with us if you want, right Halt?" Will added and looked doubtfully at Halt, who gave the smallest nod. Will was sure Halt wanted to know more about that 'watch', or what those weird strangers were doing here.

The strangers all had a large grin on their faces. "We'll pay you back, promise!" Kaya said, wearing the biggest grin of them all.

Halt still looked suspicious, but turned around and walked back to the camp. He heard the group following him. He didn't like the people really, he didn't even see reason to give them his stock, but he wanted to know more about these strangers. His Ranger impulses were practically screaming.

Will led them to the camp. He noted that Gabe and Simon were carrying... Eric, wasn't it? They really didn't seem bothered by the fact that one of his friends just let him fall face-first in the snow.

How strange.

Kaya was content, her tummy was filled with the delicious food Halt made, and her mood had gone from I'm-on-my-period to I-love-you-all. Eric had woken up by now, and gave her the stink eye, with what she would respond to with a large grin everytime he showed it.

They had met Horace and the girl with the hard name, Evanlyn. Kaya had of course seen Jessica's eyes shine at the sight of the handsome boy, and she hoped for him that Jessica wouldn't flirt with him.

He would probably die in the end, if he refused her.

Suddenly something popped up in Grace's mind. "I know what you are!" she said rather loudly, breaking some conversations. She blushed and gave a wide grin. "You're those RPG people! I must say that you are really good, for one minute I seriously believed you guys were actually just people with scary weapons."

Kaya looked up at Grace. It did explain a lot. Oh how she felt stupid, not for the first time that day. "But if they're RPG'ers, which... thing are they... RPG-ing?"

"You're the bookworm, you should tell us." Gabe said, shrugging. The bastard wasn't cold of course.

Evanlyn looked at the group. "Excuse me, what are you talking about?" she asked.

Jessica studied the group once more. "I don't think they're RPG'ers. Those don't act as obvious as tem, and tell me, who sleeps outside in this weather?" she said, waving it away.

Kaya shrugged and warmed up her cold hands in her pockets, realizing she still had some gum, she grinned. How convenient. She slowly took out the pack and popped out a gum. Immediately, Grace sprang up from the ground.

"YOU DID HAVE FOOD!" Grace screamed and practically jumped on top of her, making the whole camp startle.

"Can you not? I wouldn't exactly call gum food. It's not good to swallow, at least." Kaya said, pushing the purple-haired girl off her.

Grace pouted at her and got up from the snowy ground. "Nothing happens when you swallow gum, I've tried."

"You must be the genius of the year then." Kaya responded, grinning. She popped some gum in her mouth and gave her friends one. Then she looked at the four RPG'ers. "You want some?"

The girl, Evanlyn, looked at the silver package with wonder. "What is that?" she asked.

"Gum. To chew, you know." Kaya answered, and she was amazed by the fact that this were really good RPG'ers. She almost believed them. But then again, Kaya wasn't easily fooled. It was rather hard to win a discussion or play a prank on her, she was very witty, or whatever that was called.

Evanlyn shook her head. "I don't understand, is it food?"

Kaya shrugged. "Not exactly. I mean, it's not made for swallowing." she said and giggled when she found out the dirty joke.

"Then why would you eat it?" Horace asked. Kaya had already noted that the boy had a rather large appetite.

Jessica answered for her. "People use it for their breath, that way, it won't smell bad. And it helps you concentrate and think better."

"You can try. Just chew on it, it's strawberry flavour. Well, not strawberry, actually. It's rather like fake sugar strawberry." Kaya said, giving each of the strangers a gum, only Halt refused and went on with sharpening his daggers. Kaya was curious to see if he was only intimidating them or just really liked his weapons. She hoped for the latter.

Kaya grinned when she saw Evanlyn's face scrunch up on the taste of the ridiculously sweet treat. "It's so sweet, it hurts my teeth!" the girl with the honey blonde hair exclaimed.

The six friends laughed at the sight of her face, and Will and Horace seemed afraid to eat the gum.

Jessica was popping a bubble and Grace poked a black fingernail into it. The bubble snapped and Jessica grimaced, taking a napkin out of her bag and delicately putting her gum in there. Stop pollution. Yeah. "Stop it! You know I hate that!" she said, shoving Grace aside.

Kaya leaned against Jessica and grabbed her phone out of her pocket. They were at a higher point and closer to a village since last time they checked, so maybe they had connection now. She was lucky to still have a full battery, and she pointed the phone into the sky, holding it above her head as she started walking around. She actually wanted to sing the Circle of Life, but she couldn't really speak Zulu properly and well, her singing was worse than a fingernail scraping over a cardboard.

She cursed softly when there was still no connection. She sat down next to Jessica and Grace again. Grace patted her on the shoulder. "I feel your loss."

Kaya grinned. "I'm not sad because I haven't seen Twitter all day, hun. I think it would have been the best to call the police or something." she said.

Grace grimaced at the name of her favorite app. She laid her head in her hands and groaned.

Kaya, however, noted that strangers were looking at the phone with confusion in their eyes. She raised her eyebrows. "Is there something wrong?" Again, this were really good actors.

This time Halt stopped sharpening his daggers. "What is that?" he asked calmly.

Grace held up Kaya's phone. "This? A phone. You know, the thing were you communicate with... Internet... Facebook… Snapchat for your embarrassing photo's" she murmured.

Kaya grasped her phone back, but Will didn't seem convinced, he wanted to know more. "Can I see?" he asked.

Kaya nodded and walked over to Will to sit beside him. Halt didn't really seem to like that, but Kaya didn't really care. She handed over the phone.

Will seemed loss for a moment, just staring at the little screen with different colors and words on it. Kaya looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Every idiot knew how to handle a phone. Especially a young person like Will.

Right?

Will looked at her. "It's a box. With light. What can you do with it?"

Kaya had to suppress a grin. "It's much more than a box of light. Do you like music?" she asked, searching in her pockets for her headphones.

"Er- sure." Will said, looking at the girl.

Kaya grinned. She grabbed the phone out of Will's hands and plugged in her earphones. She noted that her friends were already back to talking with each other. She quickly touched the app that said 'music'. From the corners of her eyes, she saw Will looking rather surprised.

"Did it just move?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, now, listen." Kaya said and she softly plugged the headphones in his ears. Will tried to dodge her first, but she managed to put them in. Kaya put up a soft song, Leaving Hogwarts. Kaya normally didn't listen to songs like that, but this one had a special meaning to her. After all, it brought her somewhere.

_Kaya felt her eyes filling with tears as she was sitting down at her little table, her earphones plugged in her large CD player. The other part of the class was all happily playing with their Nintendo's or with each other. She was twelve, and still didn't really have friends. She had just transferred schools and was now in Year seven. Kaya had never felt so lonely. Miss June had said that if she made a new start, everything would be alright._

_Miss June was wrong._

_Not that she had liked the woman rambling to her in the car._

_Suddenly, a hand tapped on her shoulder. She cringed and turned around to face the intruder. She hoped that it wouldn't be a bully. Everything but the repeat of last year's events. She expected to see a large boy standing there, but certainly not a blonde girl, who was smiling at her kindly._

_"Hi, you're Kaya, right?" she asked, Kaya tried to remember her name, and soon found out that the girl was named Jessica._

_She nodded, her eyes fixed on the ground._

_Jessica hopped up and down. "Do you want to sit with us? Fun Time is no fun at all if you're sitting here all alone." she said, smiling brightly at her and pointing to a small group of people._

_Kaya nodded slowly and grabbed her CD player, then she stood up and walked over to Jessica, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground._

_As they approached the group, Jessica grasped her hand and smiled softly at her. She was softly pushed into a chair and she found four other pairs of eyes staring at her._

_"Hi!" One boy with soft blonde hair said, grinning at her. He was wearing braces, and his hair was pulled back tightly. Eric was his name._

_"Er- hi..." Kaya answered softly._

_Grace, if she remembered correctly, with her black hair and eyeliner, gave her a large grin too. "How're you enjoying this school so far?"_

_Kaya shrugged. "I-it's fine." she whispered and offered a small smile._

_"What were you listening?" The tall, dark skinned boy, Simon, asked._

_Kaya blushed and ducked her head. "A-a song from Harry P-potter." she said silently. She was embarrassed, she was a freak according to her last class, she didn't want to be a freak anymore._

_Grace ducked forward, grabbing the CD player and plugging in the ears. She gave a large grin at the sound of the music. "Leaving Hogwarts, huh? That's my favorite!" she said while elbowing the boy next to her. Kaya thought his name was Gabriel, but he was called Gabe most of the time._

_Kaya gave a wide smile. "Are you a Potterhead too?" she asked enthusiastically._

_Grace nodded, her earrings with little bells ringing loudly. "Yes! Did you see the Half Blood Prince in the cinema?" she asked, grinning._

_Kaya nodded._

_Simon mixed himself in the conversation. "I thought it was awesome, especially the fight with the dead people." he said, offering a smile. "When does the The Deathly Hallows come out?"_

_"Next year." Kaya answered, grinning._

_"We should go together, all six of us." Eric said, smiling widely._

_Kaya felt herself blushing and nodded. From that moment on, she hadn't felt lonely anymore. All because of a book series._

Kaya snapped out of her memory and looked at Will, who was grinning, but had a confused look on his face.

Kaya felt her trademark grin coming up and stopped the song after a minute. Will looked disappointed, but smiled at her. "How's that possible?" he asked.

"How's what possible?" Evanlyn asked, coming a little bit closer.

Will grinned at his friend. "This thing plays music, it's unbelievable!" he exclaimed.

Evanlyn merely raised an eyebrow. "That box of light? That's impossible!" she said, looking at the phone.

Kaya's grin went even wider and gave the earphones to Evanlyn, gesturing her to put them in her eyes. The girl did so, hesitating first. Kaya searched through the songs at first, and when she found give me love, acoustic, she pressed on it. She knew the song only started after a few seconds, so she grinned as Evanlyn's face suddenly grew surprised.

"H-how!? Is there a person inside that box?"

Kaya laughed out loud. "Nobody would fit inside 'that box'." she said, giggling.

Evanlyn looked ashamed for a few moments. "How do you keep the light in there anyways? It's not fire, otherwise it would have burned, right?" she asked, studying the thing in her hands.

Kaya grabbed her phone softly from Evanlyn's eyes and turned it off. "It's called electricity. It's... complicated. I don't really understand it either, you should ask either Jessica or Simon." she said, smiling at the people next to her.

Will frowned and looked at the two mentioned people. "I will." he said thoughtfully.

Will and Horace were suddenly called by the older man, Halt. Kaya was sitting there, next to Evanlyn.

"Isn't it weird, travelling with three men?" Kaya asked after a few moments of silence.

Evanlyn shrugged. "I like them, I don't really mind." she said, looking at the small fire.

Kaya grinned. "You must be good friends, travelling in the snow like this." she said, putting her hands in her pockets.

Evanlyn smiled. "They've become very dear to me." she said. Then she looked at Kaya. "Not meant to be rude, but your clothing is really abnormal."

Kaya grinned. "I'm falling a bit out of order, aren't I?" she asked, looking down at her favorite vest.

Then it struck her. It was like in the Lord Of The Rings fanfictions she had enjoyed way too much. The fanfictions where suddenly, a girl or a boy from the 'normal' world got transported into an alternate universe. It was crazy to think about, but maybe it happened to her and her gang.

It was really the only thing she could think of. It wasn't logical, but then again, they had transported out of a bulb of light.

This could of course be a dream. A weird dream. With people named Halt.

But then again, counting that she had once dreamed of her having an affaire with a potato, this wasn't weird at all.

A/N: Like you may have noticed, I wanted to introduce the story a little bit first, the next chapter(s) will get more tension and more action in it. Keep staying with me and please review!


	4. Chapter three

Chapter three

I'm getting a few chapters done right now. This chapter will be really exciting. Like really exciting.

By the way, the people who are waiting for romance, be patient. I know that in most OC fictions on this site, the OC falls in love in the fifth (?) chapter. I won't do that, Kaya is a very complicated person and I want the lot to become friends and trust each other first. Oh, and I'm planning for Horace and Evanlyn to be together, just like in the books. I think they're the cutest couple if you don't count Pauline and Halt. Because man, I love those couples.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ranger's apprentice. Like, really not. Like niets, rien, nothing, nichts, semmi whatever.

**WARNING:** This chapter shows child abuse. I felt terrible writing it. It's really a terrible thing and I've put up the rating a little, because it's some serious stuff.

It's not really Humor/Romance in this chapter. But it's really important to see this side of Kaya, to understand her as a being.

Let's get this started!

Kaya grunted as they had to get off the horses, the path was too slippery and dangerous to ride through with two men on one horse. Oh, how she hated horses. Kaya noticed there was a river next to them, and somehow, it wasn't frozen. Will and Evanlyn didn't seem happy with the sight of the river. As if their worst memories were made of it.

Kaya almost felt herself slip, and her quick reflexes kicked in. Her one foot was slipping so she leaned back on her other leg and went in some kind of ballet position. She breathed out a sigh when she kept standing there.

"Quick reflexes." Horace commented, smiling at her while helping her back on a safe piece of path.

"Thanks." Kaya said, giving a wide grin. Was it even a compliment. She and Horace were walking at the tail of the group, behind the horses. Kaya liked the warrior, he was kind and rather cute when he was at a loss of words.

The girl still had her green day vest, only she had stuffed a thick woolen blanket inside it, making it some kind of jacket. She had accepted the fact she appeared to be in another world.

Somehow, the idea was a little bit exciting.

Kaya studied the river, it was right next to the path, on the same height. It appeared to be deep and strong. And the temperature was of course freezing.

Something she didn't want to fall in.

"This place is rather breathtaking." Kaya said suddenly.

Horace looked at her and shrugged. "It's just a snowy forest, a few mountains and a cold river. I don't really see anything special." he said.

Kaya shook her head. "In the oth- Where I come from, this isn't normal. This is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It's so... peaceful somehow."

Horace grinned. "Then you must see Redmont one day! It's really beautiful."

Kaya looked at Horace. "Redmont? Is that a mountain?" Kaya never knew, because there was a bone merching scream and a splash. Kaya looked one second and saw Evanlyn having fallen in the river.

Without a second thought, Kaya stripped out her vest and kicked of her shoes, and then dived into the cold river.

The cold was almost unbearable, and the stream was extremely strong. But Kaya was not someone to give up easily. She knew she was strong enough to fight it. She had to be quick, she saw Evanlyn struggling to keep herself up and she seemed to almost drown.

Evanlyn could of course swim, but her muscles seemed to be frozen and she couldn't move.

Kaya was almost there when Evanlyn disappeared. Kaya took a deep breath and went straight after the girl, trying to spot the girl in the clear water.

It took a few seconds, but she spotted the girl simply drowning to the bottom. Kaya swam up, took a deep breath and swam down.

The river was deeper than she had expected, and she had to swim a good four metres deep before she could reach Evanlyn.

_"Going for a swim, little fish?" a mean voice said, dark eyes watching the girl's very soul._

_Within a second, the small girl was pushed face first, into a cold pool of water. The girl was firmly kept under water for almost a minute, and then pulled back at her hair. The girl gasped, trying to catch her breath before being pushed back into the water again. The girl struggled to the grip of the older person, but failed harshly. This was repeated for about ten times, and the girl struggled to cough up the water that filled her lungs. The girl let out a small sob, immediately regretting the sound that she made._

_The older woman grasped the girl's hair and pulled the small girl off the ground. A loud slap was heard and then the girl fell on the ground again._

_"Please... Mom, stop..." The little girl cried, her deep blue eyes full of tears._

_But the woman was unforgiving._

Kaya pushed the vision away and grasped the back of Evanlyn's collar, dragging the girl to the surface with all the power she had. She came up gasping for oxygen, and noted that the other girl didn't breathe.

Kaya swam quickly to the banks, and pulled her up, with help of Halt and Will.

"She's not breathing." Will said, panicking. Kaya vaguely noted that his cloak was off, as if he was the one that wanted to jump into the water.

Kaya, trying to catch her breath and being ice and ice cold, leaned over the girl. She had to do something. What had she learned in first aid class? She remembered. The girl was not to barely breathing.

Evanlyn's head was tilted back and Kaya lifted her chin. Kaya pinched her nose closed and covered the girls mouth with hers. She gave two breaths and waited for the chest to rise and fall. When this slightly happened, Kaya pushed on the girl's chest, right on the place of the heart. Kaya faintly heard Will screaming something like stop at her, but she ignored him. She continued her CPR cycle, and after a minute or so, she was roughly pulled away by Halt.

Why didn't these people understand she was trying to help? Kaya struggled in Halt's grip, keeping her eyes fixed on Evanlyn, who suddenly gave a loud cough, spitting out the water. Halt immediately loosened his grip in surprise and Kaya fought her way out of it, falling on the ground and panting harshly.

Will, Horace and Halt were all looking at her in terror. Did the girl just bring Evanlyn back to life? Kaya was just staring at Evanlyn, and Will quickly leaned down next to the girl. "Evanlyn? Are you alright?" He asked, slightly out of breath.

Kaya shivered, there she was in a thin, wet tanktop, wet pants and hair all wet. She was still panting, leaning against a rock and placing her hand on her heart, which was beating loudly. Her mind kept going back to the memory she had, the memory she had pushed back a long time ago. This was only making her breathing quicker, so she placed her head in her knees, breathing in through her nose and out of her mouth.

"Kay, are you alright?" Jessica asked calmly, placing Kaya's vest around her shoulders.

Kaya vaguely noted that her toes were bleeding from some sharp rocks, and nodded towards her blonde friend. "I-I'm fine." she breathed. Oh yes, she was having one again.

Jessica smiled calmly and stroked her cheek. "You were amazing there, quick thinking. Horace here has a dry shirt and pants for you. Come one, I'll help you change." she said, helping Kaya to stand up, and leading her behind some high rocks.

After she was fully dressed and not as cold anymore, Kaya became aware of everything again. It had seemed as if the last ten minutes she had lived in some kind of muted world. She noted that Jessica was talking to her.

"Huh? Were you saying something?" Kaya asked, suddenly normal again. The pants she was wearing were a little too big.

Jessica grinned. "Yes, I've been talking to you for the past ten minutes."

"Oh." Kaya said, "I was pretty badass, wasn't I?"

Jessica grinned even wider as they walked back to the camp. "According to yourself you're always badass, Kaya."

Kaya raised her eyebrow and then gave her trademark grin. "According to Umbridge, I must not tell lies. And you know, I don't want to fight with her, therefore I follow up her rules. She's really creepy." she said, and grinned as she saw Evanlyn sitting there with the same cloak as Will and Halt, a cup of steaming liquid in her hands.

"Are you alright, Evanlyn?" Kaya asked, sitting down next to the girl on a large rock. She pulled her still slightly wet hair in a bun.

Evanlyn looked at her. "You saved my life! How can I ever repay you?" She said, hugging her tightly.

Kaya smiled. "Chocolate, Evanlyn, lots of chocolate." she answered, hugging the girl back. She noted Halt staring at her, and she looked away.

Over the days, she hadn't really seen much of Halt. She was grateful to him helping them, but he seemed angry all the time. And he seemed to have some kind of weird communication with the two younger boys.

Kaya let go of Evanlyn, and looked at the honey haired girl. "You gave me a pretty good scare there, Evanlyn." she said, sitting a little bit closer to the shivering girl and putting an arm around her shoulder.

Evanlyn softly leaned into her warmth. "You brought me back to life. Will said I wasn't breathing anymore. Are you a sorcerer?" she asked softly.

Kaya chuckled. "I wish I was. Where I come from, they call it CPR." she said, smiling at Simon who waved at her.

"CPR? What does that mean?" Evanlyn asked curiously.

Kaya shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. It could be anything, really." she said. Then, there was a flash of pink and both Kaya and Evanlyn were enveloped in a hug from Eric.

"Kay! You scared me so much, I thought you were dead! And Evanlyn, OH MY GOSH!" Eric screamed and a dramatic tear rolled down his cheek, he let them go and wiped his tear away rather dramatically. "See what you do to me? You make me all red and puffy eyed! You terrible-" Sob. "Terrible people!" he said and walked away dramatically, his hair a little tousled.

Kaya seemed unconvinced with his 'screams' and just looked at Evanlyn with a grin on her face. Evanlyn was shocked. "Why does he act like that?" she asked.

"You mean overdramatic? That's just Eric. He never was like that until he found out he was gay, by the way. I think he felt the need to live up to the stereotypes." Kaya said, looking as the others proceeded to set up camp. They were lucky that the accident only happened at sundown, so they didn't lose any traveltime. If that was even a word.

Evanlyn raised an eyebrow. "Gay?" she asked.

Kaya gave a deep sigh at that. "Oh gosh, here we go. You know, a male liking another male. A woman liking another woman..." she said.

Evanlyn scrunched up her nose. "What?" She didn't sound disgusted.

Kaya looked at her and giggled. "Must sound weird to you."

"But- but those people can't you know, get children." Evanlyn stated.

Kaya grinned. "I'm actually thinking you're asking me how gay people have sex." she whispered.

Evanlyn almost fell off the rock. "E-excuse me?" she spluttered and Kaya fell off the rock, laughing at the sight of the short-haired girl's face.

Her back hit the snowy ground, and she was laughing like a madman. About nothing if you think about it. Just when Kaya had calmed down, Evanlyn said something that gave her back the laughter virus.

"Now you've made me curious."

Kaya laughed so hard she had to cry. "It's t-the" Laughter. "Back entrance" she said and burst out laughing yet again. Evanlyn just shook her head and chuckled. "I think the water did something to my head." Kaya said when her fit was over. "Maybe it was cursed."

"Are you alright?" Came the worried voice of Will, and Kaya stood up from the ground.

Kaya wiped away a tear of mirth and patted Will on the shoulder. "She's a real comic, that is!" she said and nudged her head towards Evanlyn. Then she walked off, only to have a surprised Will staring after her.

Kaya walked over to where her gang and Horace were sitting, Halt was nowhere in sight. She breathed out a sigh, somehow, she didn't want to see the wild haired man. She pushed herself between Gabe and Grace, giving them her most innocent smile.

Kaya felt Gabe softly squeeze a hand that was resting on her knees. "You were so brave today Kay, I'm proud to be your friend." he said, grinning at her.

Eric was the first to react on that. "It's time for the grouphug, people!" he squealed and soon they were all hugging. Horace had somehow been trapped in the middle of the group and was wondering what or where he was trapped in.

Kaya was laying under the blanket with Evanlyn. They had to share blankets because there weren't enough. It was a lot warmer than laying alone under a blanket. Kaya was the only one that actually lay with one of the 'other group'.

"Kaya, are you awake?" Evanlyn whispered.

Kaya turned around to face the girl. "You know, I've always thought of that as the most stupid question ever. You could just only say the name, see if they react, asking if they're awake seems kind of unnesse- unnessa- unnecessary, don't you think?" she mumbled.

"I think it's actually a good question." Evanlyn said, grinning.

"We weren't talking about you, we were talking about me, sweetheart. I believe you did say 'Kaya, are you awake', and not 'Me, am I awake?'." Kaya said, waving her argument away.

Evanlyn turned on her back, watching the stars. "I was just wondering what you're going to do when you and your friends part from us. We're going home, what are you going to do?" she asked.

Kaya looked at the girl in the faint moonlight. "I don't really have an idea. I suppose I have to follow you back home, since you owe me chocolate." she said, chuckling softly.

Evanlyn looked at Kaya. "You can come with us, if you like. I owe you my life, and in Hallasholm you won't be anything but a slave."

"O." Kaya merely said. "I just really can't think that far ahead to be honest. This all just seems unreal." she added.

Evanlyn nodded. "I think I understand, just keep in mind that you can count on my offer." she said. "Goodnight, Kaya."

"Sleep tight."

"What?"

"It's a... nevermind," Kaya said, turning her back to the girl and within a few minutes, she heard the other girl falling asleep.

Kaya's eyes became droopy too and slowly she was taken to the land of dreams.

A small girl with curly brown hair and big blue eyes sat on an old swing. She was looking at a little group of children playing together, sliding off the slide and squealing with mirth.

The girl kept watching, until the sun went down and she decided that she had to go home. Her curls were bouncing lightly as she approached a small house somewhere in at the end of a block.

The girl pushed open the door and was met by the sharp smell of alcohol. Her small nose scrunched up a little at the smell. She softly closed the door, and waited until the slouching form of her mother appeared in the hallway.

The form was leaning against the doorpost. "There you are you little scumbag." the woman said with a drunk grin.

The little girl cringed and bowed down her head, looking at the floor, waiting for the pain that was soon to come.

First there was a slap across the face, making the girl look up at her mother. "You useless piece of shit, it's all your fault! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" the woman screamed, slapping her daughter several times in her face. Then the woman grabbed the girl's face between two fingers, pinching so hard she drew even more blood. "You hear me? Nobody wants you, and yet here I am! I'm taking care of you! You hear me? THIS IS WHAT YOU DESERVE, YOU PIECE OF TRASH." the woman screamed and gave a hard slap across the face of her daughter.

The girl whimpered and clutched her bloody cheek.

"You're going to cry!? See what you are? You're weak! WEAK!" the woman screeched and grabbed a belt that was laying somewhere on the messy floor. The belt came down on the fragile body dozens of times.

The surroundings changed, the girl suddenly seemed older. She appeared to be around ten years old. The girl was standing in what appeared to be the kitchen. It was a messy room, bottles laying everywhere and flies flying around the trashcan. She was listening to the verbal wave of attack her mother gave her. The girl appeared to have given up fighting back, and just looked at the floor without even cringing.

The belt came again, as well as kicks and punches. The girl didn't react, she didn't struggle, she just waited until the woman was done. Then she got up her bloody body from the floor and dragged herself to her private room, leaving a bloody handmark on one of the walls. The girl stood in front of the mirror and looked at her wounds, then she cleaned the wounds and tried to cover them up.

The surroundings changed again, and this time the now eleven year old was sitting on her bed, a policeman was sitting in front of her and asking her questions. The girl just looked blankly at the man, who was talking kindly to her and asked her if he could pick her up. The girl merely nodded and the policeman picked her up with ease. His breath catched in his troath when he saw the bloody handprint of one of the walls. He softly carried the girl outside, where the mother of the girl was trying to get rid of the handcuffs. When the woman saw her daughter, she started to scream.

"IT'S HER FAULT! YOU SEE THIS? YOU SEE WHAT YOU DID TO ME!?" The woman screamed at the girl, who was watching the woman with dull eyes. A woman who had gathered herself in the public, walked towards the policeman and the little girl.

The woman began to softly caress the cheek of the girl, who turned her once joyful blue eyes on the woman. "Listen to me Kaya, don't listen to her, she's lying. Kaya?

Kaya? Can you hear me?" The face of the woman turned into a face with baby blue eyes and blonde hair. The voice changed too, and was now a calm and steady.

Kaya sat up immediately, breathing heavily and almost banging her head into Jessica's. "Holy mother of egg rolls." she breathed, trying to make a better situation of this. She noted that Evanlyn was awake too, looking at her with worry.

Jessica smiled softly. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Kaya nodded. "Sure, fine. Good. Marvelous. I need to pee. Yeah. Pee." she murmured, standing up and walking off.

Evanlyn looked at Jessica. "She's not alright! Why are you letting her go?" she asked, standing up but Jessica pulled her down.

"Listen. I've known Kaya for four years now. She didn't have an easy youth, she deals with her own problems. If she needs to talk, she talks. If she doesn't, she doesn't talk. She'll be fine, I promise." Jessica said calmly, smiling softly.

Evanlyn raised her eyebrows. "She was bathing in sweat, she looked ready to cry! She won't be fine!" she exclaimed as softly as she could.

Jessica frowned. "She just had a nightmare. What do you do when you have a nightmare?"

"I talk about it, with my friends." Evanlyn answered.

Jessica nodded. "Me too, but Kaya's different. She doesn't like to show emotions, they make her weak, in a way. Just give it a rest." she said, giving an assuring smile.

Kaya plopped down on the blankets again, after it had been silent between Evanlyn and Jessica for a little while. "Peeing really feels good when you need to go badly." she assured them after a minute of staring.

Jessica snorted. "Thanks for the information."

Kaya frowned, her features ever so pretty and tired in the dim moonlight. "You can't possibly tell me you didn't know that yet." she said, sitting in her favorite position, the lotus position.

Jessica grinned. "It's time to sleep Kay, not to talk about how good peeing feels. I think you're pissing off Halt by the way, he looks as if he's about to scream." Kaya said, pointing to the almost invisible form of Halt, who was keeping watch.

Kaya squinted her eyes and groaned. "I just peed near that spot. I hope Halt didn't notice."

Evanlyn couldn't help it. She giggled. "You mean you didn't see him?" she asked.

Kaya raised one eyebrow. "I can't help it, he has that scary cloak that makes him invincible. Just like Will. Only Will hasn't got a scary beard." she said and Jessica seemed to agree.

Evanlyn smiled. "I have to agree with that." she said, grinning widely.

"Yes yes Evanlyn, we should make a nice nickname for you by the way, but now it's time to sleep, you silly." Kaya said suddenly and laid down on the blanket.

Evanlyn grinned even wider. "Where did this come from?" she asked Jessica.

The blonde girl gave a wide grin. "No idea." she said, then she stood up and walked to her sleeping place.

Evanlyn shook her head. These strangers were certainly a weird bunch.

"You know, peeing in the moonlight can be very uncomfortable." came the soft voice of Kaya after a little while. "It's definitely the moonlight. It's better in the sunlight anyways." Evanlyn suddenly realized that the girl was already fast asleep.

Evanlyn softly shook her head and grinned when suddenly, Kaya's arms were hugging her tightly, giving her much warmth in the cold winter night.


	5. Chapter four

AN: Hey! Sorry for the delay. I've just been too busy the past few weeks! It's Sinterklaas (Some kind of Santa Claus, only with more presents) meaning I still have to write a poem and I've got seven tests planned this week. I barely have time for myself, let alone for this fic.

For anyone who wonders, this is the chapter where in the books the Skandians meet Will, Halt, Evanlyn and Horace. It's the part where Halt has discovered the Temujai, but of course my gang is oblivious to it, as always.

It's really hard to choose a good theme for this fiction. It's not really only romance and humor, because there some angsty chapters and adventure moments. So maybe that will change in the future. I don't really know if the rated M is good, but it's better to change it now than later when the more violent chapters come.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice. I do own Eric, Simon, Gabe, Kaya, Grace and Jessica. Jake doesn't really come up in this story anymore. I think. Yes. Well, maybe he'll come too. Maybe not.

Chapter four

Kaya was tired. She had the feeling she hadn't ever moved as much as the past three days. She was sitting on the horse named Kicker, just behind Horace. Halt had suddenly turned up with more horses. Kaya had of course been suspicious. But then again, she had nothing to complain about, being the one who travelled through light bulbs and everything. It would be weird to be suspicious of Halt, he had just provided them with more horses.

At first Jessica had been the one to sit behind Horace, because Kaya didn't really like close contact with foreigners. But when Kaya had tried to ride the horse, she fell off. Grace and Gabe had of course never laughed harder in their lives and she had just glared at them. Stupid horses and their stupid unstable backs. So there she sat, awkwardly, behind Horace. She cursed her friends for not being experienced with horses, then she wouldn't be forced behind some stranger on a stupid horse. She would have been way more comfortable with sitting behind Simon or Eric.

It seemed very inviting for Kaya to put her head on Horace's back and just fall asleep, her mind was debating whether she had to do it or not. Just as she was about to lay her head on the cloaked back, they suddenly stopped. Kaya almost fell off the horse, but she quickly gripped Horace's slim waist to balance herself and she breathed out. She tried to watch what was going on, but failed miserably. Luckily, Horace took Kicker towards the front of the group. Kaya almost fell off the horse again when she saw the group of big men standing there, weapons and all.

She decided not to look at the men, because she would only freak out. Instead, she toyed with the little coin she had bungling around her neck. She felt herself calming down when she felt the familiar form of the coin in her hand.

_The girl with the sad blue eyes was looking at the policeman who was sitting in front of her. The girl was about eleven years old and the man had been speaking to her for the past half hour, but she hadn't heard anything. She just stared into his kind grey eyes, the only movement that she made was the even blinking of her eyes. The man suddenly seemed to realize the girl wasn't listening to him, and stood up. "He will take good care of you, I promise." he said. The girl's mind wondered what he was talking about, but she kept staring away._

_A woman in police uniform entered the office this time. The woman was smiling kindly and offered her hand. "Hello, my name's miss June, what's your name?" she asked, kneeling in front of her._

_The girl just watched the woman, not taking her hand, nor responding to her question. She kept staring, barely even blinking. The woman clearly felt uncomfortable, but she smiled anyway._

_"It's alright if you don't want to talk; I'm going to bring you to mister Lee, he will help you and take care of you the next period. He is said to have been a good friend of your father once.I believe he is a distant uncle of yours." the woman said, then she offered her hand, "Will you come with me? It's going to be a lot nicer there than here."_

_The girl who answered to the name Kaya, looked slightly up in interest at the mention of her father. She stared at the hand for maybe five minutes, and then stood up herself, looking at the woman, who proceeded to grasp her hand. Kaya backed away cautiously, scared of the sudden movement._

_The woman sighed and smiled at her. "Come, we're going to get your coat." she said, and Kaya quickly put on her coat, reluctant to leave the police office. She knew she had to come back someday, to bring charges out to her mom and to tell something about her past, but she just wasn't ready for it. She noted that miss June was talking to her, but she couldn't really care less._

_The policeman with the grey eyes, Darren was his name, smiled and walked them to the car. Before letting her step in, the man placed a friendly hand on her shoulder and looked down at her. Kaya decided to let the touch happen and her mouth quirked up ever so slightly. The man saw it and gave her an affectionate smile. It had been weird for him, he had a really distinct father feeling over the girl and it seemed hard for him to let her go. "You will be safe, Kaya. I hope we meet again, and if we do, that you feel happy, because all that you deserve." he said, and opened the door for the girl._

_Kaya nodded. "Thank you. Won't you forget about me?" she whispered ever so softly and stepped into the car. She saw Darren's eyes widen at the soft sound that came over the girl's lips, it was honestly the first she had spoken in almost two weeks._

_"No. I will never forget you. I promise." Darren said and brushed a curl behind Kaya's ear ever so softly._

_Darren gave her one last nod before the car started to drive away from the parking lot. He watched until the old red car couldn't be seen, and then turned around to walk into the office again. He felt a lump in his throat and was unable to swallow it away._

_Kaya was watching the trees move at high speed and her ears were filled by the never ending talking of June. She wasn't listening. The things the woman said were probably very important, she had for example hear something about her new school, that the bullying would stop and that she could finally be happy. But Kaya's mind wasn't working. Her mind kept flowing back to the mention of her father. One split second she had hoped her father had finally been found and she could live with him. But that was just ill hope. He would never come back. He had left. Miss June was talking about some distant uncle of her._

_The only thing she wanted was rest. She wanted to stop the people being concerned about her. They had never shown any interest in her when they didn't know about her mother or her abuse, but when it came out in public, everyone was suddenly sweet and concerned._

_It made her sick. They just wanted a story._

_Kaya kept staring at the trees that were moving at a high speed. The woman was still chattering loudly to her, asking questions but not really waiting for an answer. Kaya let out a soft sigh when they entered a little path in the woods. Miss June didn't seem content driving on it, and was happy when they stopped in front of a normal looking house. "Here we are! Isn't this exciting?" the woman said and stepped out of the car to collect Kaya's trunk._

_Kaya blinked stupidly at the house and stepped out of the car, never leaving eye contact with the house. Miss June tapped her shoulder softly and mentioned for her to follow her to the house. Kaya did so, silently moving her feet along the path._

_Miss June seemed uncertain what to do when they had reached the front door. There didn't seem to be a doorbell, and June checked the papers again. "Oh but it is here, that's for sure..." she murmured under her breath, fiddling through the pages. She knocked on the door impatiently._

_Kaya was in the meanwhile looking at the rather fat cat that was looking at her, his piercing yellow eyes looking through her soul. He was sitting in the windowsill, where plain white curtains cat seemed to mew rather loudly, because the sound could be heard through the glass of the window, then it disappeared._

_Miss June was just about to knock again when the door opened, revealing an old asian man. He seemed to wear one of those toga's that monks weared in their respective temples. His face was slightly wrinkled, and Kaya thought he was around his sixties. His brown eyes twinkled with delight when he saw her standing there. "If that isn't Kaya! I must say, you are the feminine version of him. You are like two drops of water." he said, smiling kindly at him. His accent was one of a Chinese person trying his hardest to speak English._

_Kaya didn't give any reaction to that and just kept staring at the man. Miss June however, smiled kindly at the man. "Hello mister Lee, such a pleasure to meet you. I'm Angela June." she said, offering her hand._

_This time, the hand was taken and mister Lee smiled. "Good, good, may I invite you inside? I know there's some paperwork accustomed to this, and I think that will go alright with a nice cup of tea, don't you think?"_

_The police officer smiled and nodded, and Kaya entered the house first when mister Lee stepped aside. Her nostrils filled themselves with the thick scent of incense, with a slight hint of jasmine. The house was from the inside certainly more interesting than from the outside. It was like she had stepped into a castle full of ancient asian things, there were signs over the deep red walls and the doors were the 'shovable' kind. The floor was the typical wooden kind, and there were little statues everywhere._

_June followed her, the trunk trailing behind her. Lee smiled again. "Ah yes, if I show you to your room, then Angela and I can do the paperwork while you unpack your things." Lee said and softly led her to a door at the end of the hallway, he had grabbed the trunk from Angela's hands and set it down with a soft thud before the door. "This will be your room. Now excuse us." he said._

_Kaya stared blankly at the wooden door with the soft markings carved into it until she heard June and Lee enter another room, chatting cheerfully. Kaya wondered if things like this always happened this quickly. But thinking about it, mister Lee didn't seem like the man who was really much of the costumes. She opened the door slowly, sliding it aside and looking at the room that appeared before her. She dragged her trunk inside and looked around._

_It seemed like a comfortable room. The walls were this time painted in a soft cream tint, but the floor seemed to be the same. There was a small desk and a wardrobe, bot made of beautiful wood with thousands of stories painted in them. The bed was made, with silken blankets and again beautiful carvings in the wood. She noted the cat sitting on the bed, curled up at the side where her feet were supposed to lay. Kaya noted the scent of incense yet again, and noted the little stick burning on a little plate in the windowsill. Kaya walked towards it, her eyes fixed on the slowly burning stick. She putted her hands at both the sides of the windowstill and looked outside, at the tree that was standing not too far away._

_It had the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen. They were soft pink and seemed completely in contrast with the branches which where dark. Standing there, in front of the opened window, she could smell the sweet scent of the flowers and she had the feeling she could stand there for eternity._

_She felt something under her hand, after standing there for almost half an hour. She removed her hand and picked up a small coin, the coin had left a mark on her hand. It was a curious little coin, it had a square in the middle._

_"It is called a Feng Shui coin, and it is said to bring luck." The voice behind her said and Kaya was soon faced by her now guardian._

_"I don't believe in luck." Kaya whispered softly._

_Lee shrugged. "You may or you may not. Just remember that everything you believe in is real. You sometimes cannot touch it, that is true, but that does not make it less real. Tell me, my child, can you touch love?" he asked._

_Kaya shook her head after a moment._

_"Indeed, but still exists. Maybe only in our heads and in our deepest fantasies, but it does exist. Maybe it is an illusion, but even illusions are real, in a very special way. Then why shouldn't luck exist?" Lee said._

_Kaya thought about that for a moment. Of course the eleven year old was skeptical. She had had an unlucky life, and now she suddenly had to believe in luck because of a coin that was given to her? Why should it make a difference?_

_Lee turned to leave the room, and just before he left, Kaya said "I guess I don't believe in it because luck has never strike me. I've read about luck all the time, in the great stories. Sometimes I wanted nothing more than luck, just to escape the torture for a few days. But the luck never came, so I gave up hope. I learned not rely on it, isn't that important too?"_

_Lee turned his head to the girl who was standing with her back turned to him. "Yes, that is important too, my child. But let's not forget to never stop hoping. Hope for luck, and maybe one day it will come to you."_

_Kaya looked at the little coin in her hand, and putted it in her pocket. For good luck._

_Kaya smiled at the memory. After that, she had really bonded with mister Lee. And it seemed like the coin had brought her luck. Because everything in her life had turned around completely. She had been happy and had finally made friends a year after the coin was given to her. Then the pang in her heart came. She missed home, her soft bed and the warmth of the radiator. She missed her aunt and uncle, who she had viewed as her parents the past two year and of course mister Lee, who had been more like a grandfather for her than anyone. After three years of living with the man, her aunt and uncle had moved to England, close to the house of mister Lee. They had full custody of her, but Kaya was always welcome at Lee's house._

_Like one day, she had been too afraid to go to school because she had just got braces. Lee had told her that no matter what she looked like, she would still be the same person, and her friends wouldn't abandon her because she had braces. Of course he had been right, she could see that now, but she had been so insecure because of what had happened. She just didn't want to be lost again._

_And because of her fear of being abused and hurt again, Lee had trained her. Of course he hadn't said that it was because of that, but he said it would build up her confidence, and it really did._

_Kaya looked up from her book when mister Lee had tapped her shoulder. "Hello Lee, what's wrong?" she asked, smiling._

_Lee smiled back. "There is nothing wrong Lien, but I want to teach you something. Follow me." he said. Kaya had immediately thrown her book to the side and followed the man towards another, small room with only a cabinet and a carpet. Kaya looked around for a while, but she couldn't see what they were going to do at the moment. "I am going to teach you in the way of the sword and the way of Kung-Fu-"_

_"What?" Kaya interrupted._

_"-Lien, only speak when I am done with speaking. I know this may sound weird to you, but I believe this is necessary to gain your confidence." Lee said, sitting down on the carpet._

_Kaya came to sit opposite of him. "I understand, but why not boxing then? I'm never going to use a sword on the streets, I'm not going to carry it around with me. And besides, who will teach me?"_

_Lee smiled. "You do not understand Lien. The sword is a dangerous weapon in the hands of those who can bend it to their will. Even a broom or a branch of a tree can be used as a sword. And when you are disarmed or cannot find a weapon, there will be Kung Fu."_

_Kaya raised an eyebrow. "Forgive me, but why do you think I'll ever need to defend myself?"_

_Lee stared at her. "Why, I have read it in the almanac of course." he simply said._

_Kaya frowned. "A what? Almaniac? Alamaniacs? Those were not that great, they were pretty awful at making pranks if you ask me." she said, lost deeply in thought about the tv show._

_Mister Lee barked out a laugh, very much like a dog would do. "I am not talking about that Lien. I thought you read Memoirs of a geisha, then you must know about the almanac." he said._

_Kaya was thinking about the book she had read many years ago. "I don't remember." she said eventually._

_Mister Lee smiled. "That is alright, Lien. An almanac tells you what you should do on every day of the year, based on your date of birth."_

_Kaya frowned. "Like a horoscope? Sorry, sir, I don't believe in such things. They seem pretty crappy to me, especially because what they say is going to happen, happens regularly, but normally you wouldn't notice it, but with the amazing horoscope you're just suddenly aware of what happens." she said, confusing the man._

_He shook his head. "No, no, not at all like a western horoscope. Anyways, I have read that you will need to defend yourself physically and emotionally in the future. And since I am your guardian at the moment, I feel responsible for preparing you for what is out there. You will be taught in the way of the sword and Kung Fu." Lee said, looking at Kaya with a stern but calm glare._

_Kaya sighed. "Alright. Who will be my teacher? I don't really like to go to those public schools-"_

_"I will be."_

_Kaya barely held back a snort of laughter. "Not meant to be rude, sir, but you're old."_

_"Thank you for your subtle ways of telling me, Lien. It has always fascinated me how people are so easily fooled by their eyes and yet they still trust on their sense of sight. I may looked like an old man to you and sort of am, but that does not mean I cannot have the energy of a young dog." Lee said._

_Kaya stared at him. "Ok, when are we going to start? Is it going to be fun? Does this mean I won't have to do math anymore? Do we start with Kung Fu or with 'the ways of the sword'?" she asked, letting out a river of questions._

_Lee glared at her. "Your first lesson is about patience, I think you will need it very much."_

The lessons had been heavy but useful. She wasn't a 'natural' like almost everyone in every book or story, she had fought to get where she was at the end of the day. Kaya felt safe, because she knew she could protect herself when it was needed.

Kaya was shaken up from her musings when they started to ride again, she quickly clamped her arms around Horace's waist. Horses were really, really scary. "Where are we going? Who are those guys?" she asked softly, so only Horace could hear it.

"Skandians." he whispered back.

Kaya just looked at the back of his neck. Skandians sounded like the Russians, only scarier. But they meant nothing to her right now, the were just scary people with axes, but as long as they didn't attack, Kaya didn't mind them. So she shrugged and looked down at Simon.

It was a rather funny sight, seeing the tall guy sitting on the small horse Halt had given him. He didn't really seem content and when he looked up to her grinning face, he glared at her and of looks could kill, Kaya would be dead by now.

Again an ache filled Kaya's heart, thinking about the fact that her friends must feel pain too. Kaya only had her friends, her aunt and uncle and mister Lee, but all of her friends had siblings and a large family. It must be very hard for them, she mused. She had the largest part of her family here.

Oh, how she wanted to go home and lay in her warm soft bed and eat chocolate while reading a good book. She missed the annoying barking of the neighbour's dog. Heck, she even missed the awful smell that belonged to the city of London. She sighed deeply and loosened her grip on Horace's waist a little.

She looked over at Eric and felt the ache in her heart lessen. Eric looked ridiculous. His hair was the unruly mess it usually was when he didn't put half a bottle of hair gel in it, his shirt had several wrinkles, the cloak he was wearing looked way too small for him and he was sitting on his horse as if he was going to die any moment now. He was clutching the reins and looked positively terrified. For a moment, she felt something like compassion for him. But then Eric's laughing face when she fell of the horse popped up in her mind and any feeling similar as compassion was melted away completely.

Suddenly they stopped and Kaya noted that Halt was gone.

Oh.

AN: I know the part with Kaya in the police office isn't really needed, but I just wanted to show that even in the very beginning, Kaya felt comfortable with mister Lee where she didn't feel comfortable with anyone else. The next chapter will finally show some fighting action, since that's what I've been wanting to write all along. Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review or something because it really keeps me motivated.


	6. Chapter five

AN: Sorry I didn't review the reviews last time! I totally forgot it teehee.

For the people who think Kaya is a Mary-Sue. I don't think she is. You'll find out. Yes, Kaya is beautiful, but in a very special way and well... when she was younger she was everything except pretty or beautiful but she opened like a butterfly out of its cocoon. I never said Kaya's smart, because she isn't really smart like Halt, Will or Alyss.

Am I the only one or do you guys always skip author's notes too?

I view Kaya as Àstrid Berges-Frisbey, but then with blue eyes. (She's my profile picture if you were wondering). Only Kaya is more mischievous and less... perfect. And, uhm, Will is totally ORLANDO BLOOM IN TROY BUT THAN YOUNGER. Yes.

Orlando is heaven.

So is Will.

It's meant to be.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own anything. Although my birthday is pretty soon, so feel free to give me some rights. At this very moment, the only things that I own are Kaya, Simon, Eric, Grace, Gabe, Jessica and mister Lee. Oh and Darren the policeman. You can keep June. She is annoying.

So am I.

A little warning: A little bit of swearing in this chapter.

Chapter five

Kaya had come to one conclusion the past day. Skandians were scary, dirty men.

Halt had left with the leader of the Skandians to do something with people that had Japanese names, Temujei or something. Therefore, the rest of the group had to stay with the Skandians and put up a camp. One word, horror.

Camping was terrifying in general if you asked Kaya, but other than that, she had bumped into five Skandians (one at a time, mind you), making her fall to the cold ground harshly. Stupid big man with their stupid bouncy bodies. One time, the Skandian had offered her a greasy hand, which she had gripped uncertainly. Needless to say, her hand was still greasy and the creepy grin the man had given her was still not out of her head.

She had to do something to get distracted. Her muscles were sore, but she decided she could train anyways. Kaya hadn't trained for three days already, and she didn't want to loose the muscles she had.

So Kaya went off a little in the woods, when she made sure no scary man had followed her, she began with running a few laps around a the trees, making sure she kept close to the camp. Her muscles hurt, and somehow, the intensity of it all made the ache in her heart lessen. When she was warm and sweaty, she pulled of her vest and the blanket she had propped under it and tied it to a tree. Maybe not the smartest thing to do, but she had to do something else than simply running like a madman.

She stuffed the blanket under her vest, placed her phone in the pocket of her trousers and started to make high kicks up to the vest, soon her foot hurt. She decided to stop, not wanting to hurt her foot still further. Then she started to drill her hands on the stuffed vest. Soon she had a hour filled with doing the techniques mister Lee had taught her. They set her mind off things.

Just when she decided she had done enough training for that day and pulled on her vest, she heard a weird sound, like something flying towards her. Instinctively, she hid behind the tree and a mere second later there was an arrow on the spot where she had just been leaning against.

Well,_ fuck._

It wasn't an arrow from Halt or Will, she had seen those arrows, those were black and grey, but this, or at least what she had seen of it, had different colors.

What the hell could she do now? Running away was a folly, the guy or girl had a bow. If she could just see her opponent, then she could at see if she even had a chance of winning.

She was dead scared. Of course she had been training with mister Lee, but it had never been a situation of life and death. She was having a hard time thinking straight. Everything was a blur of things until she took a deep breath and thought of what Lee would do. What did he always say?

_If you don't have a chance of winning with your body, fight with your mind. Words can bend some minds. Take advantage of that._

Kaya took a deep breath and dared to look at the point where her attacker was supposed to stand. As soon as her head came in to view, an arrow flew around her head, barely missing it. Her breath hitched in her throat "Are you going to kill me like this? Without giving me the chance to even fight back?" she shouted, hoping that someone, some scary Skandian for all she cared, would come to help her.

She was greeted by another arrow.

Kaya managed a shaky smile. "I presume that's a no." she muttered. "Can you call yourself a man? Killing someone like a coward! You're no more of a man as me." she shouted.

There was no arrow this time. "Why won't you let me fight you fairly? Are you afraid of a little girl?" she shouted, and no reaction came. It was silent for a while, until she heard faint footsteps coming towards her and the familiar sound of the sword coming out of the scabbard. Her eyes went wide and she took a large gulp of air.

At least she got what she wanted.

Then there was a loud battle cry and she was just in time to move away from the large saber that was coming her way. Kaya dodged the saber and tried to think about a way she could win.

_Manipulate your surroundings to your advantage._

Soon, Kaya was hiding behind the tree, 'dancing' around it. She had to find a weak spot from her attacker. Then the saber hit a small part of flesh on her right leg. The pain fled through her leg and suddenly she was frozen.

Kaya stood right there, surprising her opponent and making him hesitate for a moment. Just a moment too long, because his saber was kicked out of his hand, sending it flying through the forest.

The man looked at her with wide eyes and didn't know what to do for a moment, until he decided to attack her like that, without weapons. That was a wrong choice, because the high kick he gave went wrong, because Kaya grabbed his ankle, trapping him in her firm grip. Then Kaya took a step forward and pinched the muscle in his neck, making him fall down in unconsciousness.

Kaya breathed out a deep sigh and tried to get her breathing to regular. She looked at her leg, her breath hitching in her throat. She felt tears stinging in her eyes and she sat down, leaning against the tree. She touched the fabric of her trousers, revealing the gash.

Then she heard someone approaching on their horse, and all too soon she was on her painful leg again. She cursed loudly when the pain seemed to get worse. She hid behind the tree, closing her eyes and hoping that no one had yet noticed her.

A few moments passed and nothing had happened. When she opened her eyes, she looked right into the dark ones that belonged to Halt. Kaya let out a deep sigh and bit her lip. What was she supposed to say?

"Sit down." Halt said sternly and Kaya did as she was told. Suddenly there was another man behind him, one of the Skandians. She looked at him for a moment before fixing her attention on Halt, who was looking at her leg.

"It's not too bad, is it?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Halt didn't answer. "Why were you here? Don't you know it's dangerous out here?" he asked sternly, his dark eyes making holes in hers.

Kaya shrugged. "N-no reason, j-just wanted t-to take m-my mind off things." she said.

The Skandian seemed to laugh when he saw her attacker. "Losing from a woman, that isn't a man!" he said, but looked worried all the same. He looked at the saber and picked it up. "How did ya win from the guy anyway, lass?"

Kaya looked up to the Skandian. "Luck, he had cut me and I just stood there, frozen. This seemed to get him off guard so I kicked the saber away with my good leg. Then he hesitated for a moment before attacking me again. I blocked and then I pinched the muscle between his shoulder and neck which brings you into unconsciousness." she explained, her voice trembling less.

The Skandian smiled at her. "Ah, a dangerous lass you are! And look, our friend left one of those little brats here." he said, pointing to the horse that was simply standing nearby, looking rather bored actually.

Halt raised his eyebrow at the Skandian and then looked at the small horse. He seemed to have some interest for the horse, but instead he wrapped a small patch of bandage around Kaya's wound and then helped her up. Kaya wondered vaguely where he got the bandage from.

"Thank you." Kaya said, smiling gratefully and trying to balance herself on one leg. She leaned against the tree and trembled a little bit. The weather here was terribly cold.

Halt looked at her for a moment before turning to the pony that was just standing there, looking extremely bored. As bored as a pony could look anyways. Halt patted the pony with a soft hand and seemed to whisper something in it's ear. Kaya raised an eyebrow at it.

Who would have thought that such a stern man could be so nice to a pony he had (presumably) never seen before? Halt seemed to like something she disliked. God what a wonder of mankind.

Halt hadn't really been nice at all the past few days. Kaya didn't, well actually she did, blame him. She would probably have done the same thing as him, keeping as much distance as possible. But she would do it out of protection and Halt just did it because he seemed to dislike everything and everyone. Kaya suddenly remembered the scene in The Woman In Black where Arthur Kipps had asked his son why he looked so sad on the drawing his sweet son had made for him, and the boy had simply answered; 'That's just the way your face looks like.'. Kaya had found this a great moment in the history of films, because she had to laugh so hard that she was thrown out of the cinema.

Realizing she was getting off topic again, she focused her mind on the gruff man again. Her mind was just on topic again when she heard a rather loud forced cough. Looking up, she saw the slightly tensed form of the Skandian and Halt sitting on their horses. On the back of Halt's horse was her attacker, sleeping silently. Ha, she thought, I hope that demon lets you fall.

"Are you deaf?" Halt said, irritated.

Kaya knew the answer to that of course, but decided to wisely not answer to that question. "Sorry, sir, what were you saying?" she asked.

Halt sighed deeply and turned his horse around, with his back turned to Kaya. "I told you to get on that horse and follow us." he said.

Kaya's eyes went wide. "Wait, wait, wait, wait!" she yelled. Halt turned around and raised one eyebrow as to ask a question. "I'm not going to sit on that... demon! Don't you know those animals are planning to kill me?"

Halt stood there, unmoving and the Skandian gave her a small smile. "It's not half that bad when you're actually sitting on top of it." he said although he didn't really seem convinced.

Kaya simply looked at the horse and then shook her head. "It's not going to happen." she said and cowered back when the horse made a step towards her.

Halt simply raised his eyebrow again, it seemed to be kind of like a strange habit of the man, he never really seemed surprised about anything but merely raised one eyebrow as if to ask a question. "You are, you're wounded and you can't walk." he said.

"I'm fatally wounded! I can't even walk, what makes you think I can sit on a demon?" she cried dramatically. The stubborn girl she was, she would never agree to something she didn't found pleasing without having a large argument.

Halt turned around and sighed, again irritated. "Just sit on that horse! I won't do anything! And now do shut up otherwise I'll still sent an arrow through your head." he almost shouted.

Kaya opened her mouth to give a response but instead gave Halt's back the stink-eye and hopped towards the horse, who didn't even try to come near her. She mumbled some incoherent words and dragged herself upon the horse, awkwardly.

When Kaya was seated on the horse, she leaned forward, close to the ears of the animal. "If you're an undercover Death Eater, whinney now." she whispered.

As if on cue, Halt's horse whinnied and her horse merely raised his head and looked at her as if to ask her 'Are you nuts?'. Kaya took the reins of the animal in her hands and didn't know what to do. Instead, when she saw Halt giving a light kick in his horse's belly, she did too.

Kaya wished she hadn't, because immediately, the horse seemed to spring back to life and started running like a maniac. Kaya swore rather loudly and did her best not to fall off the horse. It did of course help that she was fatally injured. After maybe six minutes of complete and utter torture, they had reached the camp and Kaya had struggled her way off the horse.

The Skandians seemed to gather themselves around her attacker. Kaya raised her arms up, questioning her luck. "Yeah, just leave... JUST LEAVE THE FATALLY INJURED ALONE I SUPPOSE! With demons and places without electricity. This is really not my place." she muttered to herself.

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness." she heard Simon say from behind her.

Kaya turned around. "See!? It's all the fault of that horse over there. I'm wounded because of it." she said, pointing towards her leg.

Simon looked at her leg for a moment before chuckling. "You do know how to find trouble, don't you? Oh, and I think the person on the horse harmed you like that."

Kaya raised an eyebrow and sniffled. "Trouble finds me, heck, I can't even walk without being injured. Without the horse the scary Boo-man would have never attacked me. They've been planning this all along! Allies of Voldemort and Sauron, I tell you!" she said.

Suddenly Evanlyn stood beside Simon. "Who are Voldremort and Sauron?" she asked curiously and looked at Kaya's leg.

Kaya looked at Evanlyn for a moment, dumbfounded. "Done." she merely said and turned around. Now, in the stories she had read, it would be best for her to walk away casually yet fiercely. Of course, Kaya tried this but failed miserably. So instead of walking elegantly and gracefully, she hinked towards the rest of her friends.

AN: And yet you thought that Eric was a drama queen. More action in the next chapters, where they arrive at Hallasholm and well, all hell breaks lose. In the next chapter there will be more of my other characters, I just really wanted to guys to get to know Kaya a little bit.


	7. Chapter six

Hi guys! Sorry for the late update, I've been too busy lately and even the vacation is not really making me stress free. However instead of reading my schoolbooks, I've decided to make another chapter for you guys! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even a cookie. I do own those silly characters o' mine. **

Kerowyn6: Hey loyal reviewer! The AN was not completely meant for you actually. Someone PM'ed me or whatever, it was very rude. The whole looking like a Mary-Sue is just a very important thing for my fanfiction. It will be explained throughout the story, but I agree with you. Did I really say that Kaya was smart? Because I didn't mean to. She's wise. Maybe.

Just to make sure, Kaya is not the 'prettiest' of the group. Grace and Jessica can win from her in a beauty pageant with a grim face. I know I used a very beautiful woman to portrait Kaya, but just imagine her having some imperfections, and being pretty, just not as pretty as the picture, but still pretty, yet not as pretty as the other girls of her group. You get me.

Let's just start because I'm already holding you guys up!

Chapter 6

Kaya honestly didn't really get the concept of Hallasholm. It was big, cold and it smelled like fish. Needless to say, she didn't like it there. She was bored, too. Grace and Gabe were somewhere on the streets, probably licking each other's faces off, Simon was talking to scary people about the architecture of the building-thing that was the center of Hallasholm, and Jessica and Eric were probably out freeing slaves.

Kaya had already told them that the slaves there weren't like the house-elfs in Harry Potter. Because honestly, those slaves wouldn't last for one day without their masters, they needed food and they got it, even if it was a tiny little bit. House-elfs could save themselves, these slaves couldn't. Besides, it didn't really seem like an easy task to free the slaves. There were scary men everywhere in Hallasholm and if there was one thing Kaya didn't want to have was a fight or any kind of argument with a Skandian. Or Halt.

Evanlyn was nowhere to be seen, Will was training and so was Horace. It was pretty interesting in the beginning, but that began to be boring too after some minutes. She honestly didn't care where Halt was with his creepy cape that made him invisible.

Kaya's phone was still off, she didn't want to spill her battery for nothing.

Kaya would have loved to train with a sword again, just like the old days. But her teacher wasn't here and it wasn't really fun without him, besides, last time she went training she was attacked by a weird man and got almost fatally wounded. Oh, and she had to drive some kind of devil.

Speaking of the devil, she was near the stalls, so maybe she could go to her own little devil. It was hers now, according to Simon. Maybe she should take care of it, at least, if the slaves didn't already do it or something.

Kaya closed her eyes and welcomed the warmth that flared through the stalls. She backed off however, when she saw the Death Eater pony-horse standing there. Her eyes narrowed and then she made the I'm-watching-you sign before searching for her horse.

He or she was all in the back, and Kaya sat on the pile of hay which stood just in front of the box-thingy where her horse stood.

Then she eyed the pony, which was just looking at her with a bored expression. If a pony could look bored anyways.

"Don't think any of this, we're not friends." she murmured, folding her arms over each other and leaning against the cold wood of the stall.

The pony whinnied.

"I know right! The food here sucks balls. You shouldn't complain though, you're fat enough already." answered Kaya, looking at the pony with a stern glare.

The pony just glared back and then turned its head towards Kaya, as if to question her.

Kaya scoffed. "I'm just telling you the truth, you know. What's your name anyway? I can't keep referring to you as it." she said, smirking.

The pony started eating something, as if to mock her. Then it made a little sound, as if it was sad.

She raised an eyebrow and then her expression changed to a motherly stare. "Oh dear, that's so sad! I think we have to rename you. Any suggestions?" she said and screamed the last part in the stall.

No reaction. "Looks like we have to come up with something ourselves, little bastards." Kaya sighed. The pony just kept looking at her, its mouth still moving.

"What do you think about Voldemort? Too long, isn't it?" she asked.

The pony whinnied as if to confirm that little fact. Kaya went through some names in her head, and suddenly she sprang up in excitement. "I think Frodo is the perfect name for you. Actually, I quite think you look like each other, except for the eyes of course. But you also have curls and you like food. Your feet are hairy too. Do you like firework and smoking, too?" she rattled in one breath.

The pony whinnied, and Kaya saw that as a yes. She made a movement, as if she wanted to high five Frodo, but dropped her hand as soon as she realized that it was a pony. Then she sat down on the pile of hay again. "This DOESN'T mean we're friends. I still suspect you of being a Death Eater."

Frodo glared at her and then pushed its head against hers, as if to give her a little kiss or something. Kaya jumped up "Don't you dare to seduce me, Frodo Baggins! I need to leave anyways, I might steal a sword or something." she gasped. "It might glow when orcs are nearby! You're boring anyways." she said and turned around to walk out of the stalls. Just before she left, she turned around. "I might find a ring for you!"

Kaya decided that she wanted to do something else, talk to someone or something. She heard steel clinging not far away from her. Probably Horace who was training or something. It made her think of old memories.

_Mister Lee was looking at the girl, a twinkle showing in his dark eyes as the girl studied the sword in her hands. It wasn't really the most special sword in the world, although the heft of the sword was plain beauty, but then again, every single part of the Lee cottage was utterly beautiful. Yet the sword was, too. The lemmet was made of a simple steel, yet it seemed to be made of rock, as hard as it was. The heft was carved with weird symbols, but they seemed to be part of the sword as much as the lemmet itself. She lifted the sword close to her head and then looked kind of sad. "Oh Braceface, how you've lied to me." she said, looking at her braced teeth the reflection of the sword._

_"Wow, this is a pretty cool thing!" Kaya said, softly touching the symbols. "Is it yours, mister Lee?"_

_The old man nodded. "It belongs to my family. I have another sword now, this one was a little bit… girly for me. I have the strong believe that it fits you, Kaya." he said._

_Kaya's eyes went wide. "Really? I can't take that! It runs in your family, sir, I'm not Kaya Shu!" she exclaimed, although her eyes kept drifting off to the sword._

_Mister Lee laughed. "Do not worry about that, my girl, I'm the last Lee alive. I saw your father as my son after all, and you are practically a daughter of me at this moment." he said, making Kaya blush._

_"I'll take it, but only because insist."_

_Kaya was unsure of the wooden weapon in her hand, it just felt… weird. She had swapped the Lee family sword for a wooden one, just to be sure that no one got wounded._

_"It doesn't feel right in my hands." she said, looking at the exact replica of her actual sword, in its wooden version._

_The old sir was standing front of her, a sword in his hands, smiling calmly at her. "Ah, my dear, you seem to see it as some kind of attribute, but it is not. You must see your sword as an extension of yourself, as another part of your very being."_

_"You must see the art of sword as the art of drawing." The old mister said, slowly making movements with his sword across the room.. He was truly someone with a lot of energy, Kaya had to give some credit at him for that._

_Kaya snorted. "That blows, I can't draw for shit."_

_Lee looked at her with a stern glance._

_"Sorry."_

_"The art of the sword is as the art of drawing because just as you cannot reverse a stroke of the brush, you also cannot take away a stroke of the sword." he said wisely._

_"Well, unless you use a pencil, you can erase those, you know. With an eraser." Kaya said, a large grin plastered on her face._

_"In a fight, you only have one second to imprint your surroundings, make sure to scan everything, even the smallest things can make huge differences."_

_Kaya was training with a former student of Lee, and she was doing a pretty good so far. She wasn't as good as an advanced student, of course. She wasn't a natural either, but she was pretty good._

_She was just getting really into it, when Lee shouted. "KAYA!"_

_Kaya nearly dropped her sword at that, and before she could do anything, the stub point of the sword hit her square in the chest. She soon lay on the ground, having lost her balance when the sword hat hit her. She glared at both Lee and Samuel. "WHAT?!" she yelled._

_"Always concentrate."_

RAGE.

_Master Lee was again standing in front of her, this time in his backyard. He was holding her sword. "My last lesson of the sword for you is to manipulate your surroundings towards your advantage."_

_Kaya smiled. "Like using the grass as a bed?" she asked._

_Lee nodded. "I know you will be a great swordmaster, you have creativity in your eyes Kaya, and creativity is a very underestimated weapon."_

Kaya smiled as she thought at those good old lessons. They were really the fond memories of the time she and mister Shu had spent together. It had practically been her childhood.

She was freed out of her musings when there was suddenly a large uproar of people going to the weird center of the city. Being the woman she was, she was curious as ever and naturally decided to follow it.

Kaya tried not to panic when she reached the huge sea of people. She hated being among that many stinky people. Oh, yep, there it was.

It was like she was surrounded by a neverending wave of heat and cold mixed together, and somehow breathing costed most of the energy in the world. Everything moved so fast, but she stood there, feeling as if she couldn't move. What was happening to her? Her legs somehow carried her to a little stair in front of a small store. She slumped down, as if all of her energy had dried up and splattered.

She put her head between her knees, trying not to completely panic, but it didn't work. Her shoulders shook. Don't cry.

How long was this going on? Was she dying? It sure felt like it. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably and then it came. Touch.

Kaya moved to knock out whoever it was, with her little strength and little energy. It was if something feral had woken up inside her, something that was wild and focused on surviving.

But then she saw two dark eyes, looking worriedly at her. The survivor inside somehow calmed down and her breathing became regular again. There was a warm hand on her cheek and she looked at the face of her best friend.

"Simon." she whispered.

"Kaya, are you alright? Did you have it again?" Simon asked, his breath coming in little clouds.

Kaya suddenly shook off her daze, standing up, only swinging a little. "Fine. I'm fine. Just- just got a little overwhelmed by the stench of rotten fish."


End file.
